Fate's Little Bell

Chapter 19

 Much to my chagrin, he did make it work. I was about to hop in the shower when I texted him, "So... I'm about to shower... I really hope you can't talk."

About two seconds later, my phone started buzzing with a call.

Great, I thought, answering it.

"Hi," I grumbled.

"Good morning!" he greeted me. "Are you naked?"

I felt my cheeks get warm. "Not yet, jeez. I'm really glad I didn't put you on speaker phone yet."

He laughed. "Hurry up."

After turning on the shower, I put him on speaker phone and finished removing my clothes. "I feel really uncomfortable right now," I told him as I got into the shower.

"Well... now you know how I felt."

I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, what are we gonna talk about?"

"Hmmm... what are you doing?"

"Ummm, I'm getting my hair wet so it's not annoying." I grabbed the container of body wash. "And now I'm putting soap on a sponge-loofah thingy. Why... are you asking?"

He laughed. "I'm trying to imagine I'm with you."

"Wow. Okay. Like... in the shower?"

"No... but now I am."

I felt my cheeks get warm because that's all I could think of at this point. In my head, his hands slid down my wet body as he pulled me closer. My heart raced and I shook my head quickly, trying to dislodge the image from my brain.

"M—maybe you shouldn't think about that," I mumbled.

At first, I thought he might not have heard me, but then he answered. "I... definitely shouldn't."

"You should know... that I'm fairly certain that what you're experiencing is absolutely nothing like what I experienced when I talked to you earlier."

He laughed. "So... you didn't picture me naked? Not even once?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, now I am, so thanks for that."

"You're welcome." He sighed. "This... sorta sucks."

"Uh... okay? How does this suck?" I asked, massaging shampoo into my hair.

"It's just... to know that... you're naked and beautiful and...ugh..." He groaned with frustration. "And there's nothing... I can do about it.... It sucks."

I bit my lip. "It's not like I'd let you do anything anyway... and if you were here, I definitely wouldn't be talking to you right now, unless it was through the door."

"I know...."

"So... what are you doing today?" I asked, very obvious in my attempt to change the subject.

He sighed. "Well... I need to talk to... important people... so I can visit you."

"Oh, wait...." I frowned. "You need to get permission to see me?"

"Yeah... but my hyungs said they would help. I just... hope people aren't too mad...."

"Why would they be mad?" I asked, smoothing back my hair as I rinsed out the shampoo.

"Well... I think they're mad about the video... and I don't want them... to think I'm... being lazy."

"But... Jeongguk, you're not lazy at all."

"I am. There's so much more... I should be doing. So... I'll work really hard this week... and when I get back... to make up for it."

I sighed, rubbing conditioner into my split ends. "Okay... just don't push yourself too hard. I don't want you to get hurt."